Wow, this book made me angry, although I'm sure that was the whole point. I have nothing against a book making my blood boil - in fact I commend the writer for that ability - but it was such a slow read. It wasn't a thriller like I was expecting, so maybe that was my problem. Either way, I expected more.

The book was really good but the content had a lot negative triggers for me so I had to stop very early into the book. I am sorry.

Holy shit, this wasn't what I thought it was going to be, in a mostly good way. It kept me at the edge of my seat and left me with an icky, sad feeling but I havent thought about it much since I finished it. It's fascinating and frustrating and not for everyone.

Our Kind if Cruelty was impossible to put down, and the obsession and delusions of Mike with regards to his relationship with Verity were horrifying yet believable. Araminta Hall expertly created a tragic childhood for Mike filled with neglect and abuse, and thus enabled me to feel sorry for him despite his numerous mistakes (including murder). Overall, this book was engaging and kept me on the edge of my seat.

This book was unlike any other book I can recall ever reading. It started out slow, but thankfully, the pace picked up. There was several unsettling things within the novel that I found out the author later provided some clarification on, which was nice. As a woman, I felt the pull of "men acting as if we are things," and it was hard to wrap my head around for a bit. I had to really take a step back to see ANYTHING from Mike's point of view and even then it was hard. I think the author did a fantastic job showing all the layers of V's personality. I'd consider re-reading this title in the future. I have to admit though, I'm still reeling from the physical things Mike did to V. It was brutal and hard to read, but I understand the author needed to write it that way to really make the readers understand his state of mind.

A good read about obsession and the effects it can have. Very good read, flows very well. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC of this book in return for my honest review. Receiving the book in this manner had no bearing on my review.

This is an engaging book written from a very unique perspective. It flows really well and makes you want to keep reading. I love that it is told in the first person because it has a much bigger impact than if this particular story would have been told in the third person. A nice and well-written book!

A story of obsession and how a game between two can have unexpected outcomes.

Mike and V ( Verity) a couple who have a weird relationship and create a game to prove their love for each other. Mike's childhood wasn't an ideal one. He falls in love with V, to the point of obsession, but what happens when obsession and jealousy blind you of reality.

The story was okay. I felt sad for Mike who made me feel that he was looking to be loved and V who I think took advantage of this.

Our Kind of Cruelty contains all the juicy stuff - obsession, sex, rage, jealousy, deceit. I love a great dark and demented read, but oh my, "I Crave You" will haunt me for years to come!

I decided to read another book from my TBR pile and remembered that I selected this book because of the author’s acknowledgments page. She notes, “The first draft of this book was written in a mad spurt of anger at the continued injustices perpetrated against women in our so-called civilized society”. Though it was published in May of this year, the injustices continue to this day and I couldn’t wait to begin.

"When I lived with my mother there were monsters only I could see in the corner of my room, hidden by the cobwebs and filth that clung to our walls. I came to an agreement with those monsters. If I agreed never to look straight at them, they agreed not to eat me. It lessened the terror a bit."

Mike Hayes never felt true love until he met V. His cruel upbringing from an alcoholic mother and her male visitors traumatized him more than he wanted to admit. When he was placed with a foster family, he had already shown violent and unusual behavior in school. His new foster parents, Elaine and Barry, did the best that they could in raising him to be responsible and making him feel wanted. It wasn’t until he met Verity (V for short) in college that he understood real love for the first time. Real obsessive love, to-die-for love, love that you crave…

"All I could be sure of was that it was going to be something big, something that undeniably and irrefutably proved my love for V forevermore."

The entire book is told from Mike’s perspective and from the beginning you know something is off. He insists that V has not moved on and still loves him. That she is playing a game called crave that they created as college kids. He also hears people say things about him that he doesn’t remember happening that way.

"V would be lost without me, she wouldn’t know what to do with herself, she would be stranded and alone. It has always been my job to keep her safe."

The plot is very well written, the suspense is penetrating, and Mike’s obsession with V slowly grows more intense throughout the book. This reader was impatient to find out what really happened and the ending is quite gripping, disturbing, and extremely sad. The only problem I had with the story was that it was too long and I believe it could have been condensed for just as much psychological impact. Saying that, I strongly recommend this book for people who like psychological suspense.

I am still not 100% sure how I feel about this book. When I read the synopsis, I was all in. I assumed this would be dark, creepy, stalkerish, along the lines of You or something similar. But what I got felt a little disjointed. I think all the parts were there to make this a great read, yet it fell short for me. It wasn't quite creepy enough. It didn't leave me feeling disturbed ( which is what I was expecting and honestly thought I was getting). It left me feeling like I wanted more. I wanted more dark, creepy, and disturbed. I enjoy reading crazy and while I did finish the book, I did want a little more.

I am sorry for not reviewing fully but I don’t have the time to read this anymore. I believe that it wouldn't benefit you as a publisher or your book if I only skimmed it and wrote a rushed review. Again, I am sorry for not fully reviewing!

DNF at 20% - I found this one way too slow for me and didn’t find enough suspense to keep me wanting to read more

Unfortunately, I was unable to get into this title. It just wasn't a good fit for me. Thanks so much for the opportunity to read this title. I will not be posting a review online, in order not to skew the ratings.

Mike and Verity were meant to be. They are young, smart and have each other but when Mike gets the opportunity to work in the States, Verity encourages him to go for it even if it means they will be apart for some time.

When the couple reunites after a few months the cracks in their relationship can’t be mended and Verity breaks up with Mike. He knows he did a stupid and unforgivable thing but he will do whatever it takes to win her back.

Verity has stopped taking his calls and has even gone so far as to get engaged with another man but the more Mike thinks about, he knows that Verity has just changed the rules of their game, the Crave, to make him suffer and earn back her love.

That’s okay, Mike is willing to play.

The novel is told from Mike’s perspective so the reader sees all the obsessive and delusional behavior that Mike displays but will Verity be free or is she really playing just a more amped version of the Crave. At times I wish we could have had Verity’s perspective because I had some doubts about events but in the end I’m happy we only got Mike’s version. If you like psychological thrillers give this one a try.

* A dark and twisted kind of story that moves quickly. It's a middle of the road rating for me because it didn't hold my interest for long and simply I forgot most of it not long after I read it. It didn't create a buzz in my head and keep me thinking and I couldn't get lost in the characters.

It's fairly well written even if some of it is a little repetitive, it almost needs that in spots as a representation of the character.

This review will be short, because it’s difficult to talk about this book without ruining it. And this is a book that you appreciate more the less you know about it.

Mike and V dated for several years in and just after college. Mike eventually took a position in America, which caused them to be separated for a long stretch, during which they ended up breaking up. Now V has moved on, but Mike knows that she hasn’t really. It’s just part of their relationship, and he’s paying close attention, watching for their signs.

I understand why this book has gotten the buzz it has, but I’ve decided that this type of book just isn’t for me. Books like You by Caroline Kepnes are in this same style. I read You, I enjoyed it, but it was creepy enough for me to have so far avoided the Lifetime series based on it. Being in the head of a character like this is uncomfortable for me.

But that’s the point Hall was making, I think. We should be uncomfortable with characters like this. Yes, Penn Badgley and Zac Efron are lovely men, but that doesn’t mean we should confuse their characters, Joe and Ted Bundy, respectively, with the actors. A pretty face can hide a lot, and as a society, we’re much less uncomfortable with this type of thinking than we should be. Araminta Hall shines a light on just how hypocritical we are, and just how much of a double standard there is in our justice system, as if we didn’t know.

I think this book is important to read, and I’m glad that I did, but it made me very uncomfortable, so it’s not something I’d ever be able to re-read. I wasn’t able to just sink into it the way I like doing with books because I was so constantly aware of just how wrong everything around me felt while I was reading it.

The MC is a delusional male with toxic masculinity. I don't have time or interest in that, sorrynotsorry. The whole story was tedious, repetitive and ultimately hollow. I failed to see how the author, per her author's note, actually did anything to support women with this story.

This book was weird, to say the least. I finished it over a week ago and I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about it, hence, the three star rating. Mike, the protagonist, is a deeply disturbed individual, whose motivations are grounded in just enough logic and just enough reality, that you are never really sure just how disturbed he is. While not a strictly unlikeable narrator, I was never sure how I felt about him. I couldn't decide if I trusted him, felt sorry for him, or wanted him to burn in hell.

Because of this, the feminist slant that really comes forward at the end of the novel was hard to mesh. The author writes in a note after the story that she wanted to emphasize the ways women's bodies have been policed and judged, especially in the past two years. While I see where that comes from, using Mike as the narrator makes that difficult to see, because we only get his focalization. While we can see that his actions are not okay, it's hard to see JUST how bad they are, because of his narration. Think of this as a more subtle version of Caroline Kepnes' novel, YOU.

I'm glad I read it and I know i'll continue to think about this book in the months to come.

So, this is a very simple, but very unsettling novel.

The author puts us square in the mind of a very disturbed, very obsessed man.

The book is highly suspenseful as you watch him spiraling out of control - and you simply know it can't end well. It's dark, twisted (not twisty though) and you feel somewhat sullied just reading it.

What kept this from being a five star read for me, though, was the sheer simplicity of it. With Mike, disturbed as he is, what you see is exactly what you get. I kept hoping the author would add something to this - something that made this story more than just the workings of Mike's mind - but it never really came.

Still, though, it was a very good book. I read it at breakneck speed, simply dying to know how it would all end.